Small news, nothing crazy.
Now that Brick is 'maturing' he's turning into a big red lump. Swims some then plops down into his pit. He's arranged stones everywhere including a couple of boulders (They were supposed to keep him from ramming stuff but he moves those anyway). Just puts his head down and shoves them against the glass. So he's got a nice wall of cratered out sand framed by rock he peeps over and can keep an eye on things while having privacy. He also arranges plants as a partition wall. Doesn't play with his ball as much but he does seem more active at night before the tank goes dark. Only gets pats and tickles rarely now. He still rises up to say 'hi' but then goes right back to his pit. He also has a grumpy mode that's hard to predict.
Bella, an hrp daughter out of Pip/Mongo shares the 225 with her huge brothers and mother. Bella is unique because she's one of the few females that's a complete combination of both parents. She has her mother's stripes but her father's long body shape. No spangles, no red belly. She looks like a tiger arrow. Pretty much all of her sisters/female cousins with stripes have oval shape, red belly and spangles. She's also got good size on her, around 3 1/2".
Seems as though she wants to run the family but Pip ain't having it. Bella tried to set up in a log Pip selected. A brief skirmish then Bella went flying across the tank. So much for that. Interestingly enough Pip has changed her tank location after 2 years. She's no longer sharing space with son Hulk. Now she's on the opposite side sharing an area with another monster son Tank. Something happened, I just don't know what. The log that was Pip's apartment has been taken over by Red rainbow Salt.
I've ordered green sand for Jazz (acara) tank. It's a deep color that should simulate algae/moss. Had to get another wood plank for base support because the shelves I planned to use are just a little too close for comfort covering the metal frame on the stand. About 1/8" each side to spare. Salt and two of the female hrps will go into the tank with her. Can't wait to set it up.
In the 125 there's an unofficial battle for the hrp queenship. Blaze and her younger cousin Harlequin have been squaring off! Slade, who has fry with them both is caught in the middle. It's funny asf...he chases Harlequin into the log and she pops right back out. She refuses to stay in there. He presses her near one of the caves near the fry and she circles around avoiding him. Harlequin reminds me of a teen mother for sure. She'll protect the fry but still wants her space.
The current queen Blaze has boldly set up in a log near Harlequin's crew. She ain't going anywhere. Interesting Slade will share a log with Blaze but not with Harlequin. With Harlequin he stands guard over their area or goes into the much larger sponge cave. Not sure how many fry Harlequin has but it's not a lot.